Vehicle-bow support and fastener.



P. 'BROADBOO KS. VEHECLE. 80W SUPPORT. AND FASTENER. I Arruc'mon FILED050129. 1916.-

Patented 1m. 18 1am.

O 22 Zm/e/F/B PETER BROADIBOOKS, or B'ATAVIA, NEW YORK.

vEnIcLniow SUPPORT AND steam I To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, Pn'r a'BRoAo'BooKs, a

citizen of. the United States, residing at Ba- 1 tavia,..in the countyof Geneseeand'State'of New York,-l1ave invented a new and usefulImprovement in ;Vehi'cle-Bow Supports and 1 Fasteners, of which thefollowing is a spec1- This invention relates. to bow supports: andfasteners,suc'h asare employed on a'utomo-h biles, for clamping orfirmly holding the bows when the top is folded. Devices for ,thispurpose ofvarious diiferent'constructions have heretofore been used in.which the device is secured .on the side ofthe vehicle body in positionto support and hold the bows when the top is folded. These-conestructions are objectionable because they project out from the sideofthe body to such an extent as to be dangerous on account, of thepossible contact of the same with per sons and objects, and when the topis raised or extended the support and fastener is conspicuous anddetracts from the neat appear,- ance of the vehicle. A'bowsupport andfastener has also been heretofore used in which the clamping orfastening part is carried by one of the bows of the top, but this devicealso necessitates a stationary bow. prop on the vehicle body which islarge and projects out from the body so far as: to be objectionable forthe same reasons as the other constructions,

The objects of this invention are to over,-

come the-objections mentioned and produce a practicaland desirable bowsupport and fastener, adapted to be readily operated to securely fastenthe bows when the top is folded and in which the prop or supportingmember, as well as the clamping or fasteningmeans of the device,iscarried by the bows so that when the top is raised or extended bothparts move therewith and no prop or support is left on the body whichdetracts from the neat appearance of the vehicle or projects far enoughfrom the body to beobjectionable.

\Vith this end in view the combined bow support and fastener comprises abow-sup porting prop which is attached to one of the bows of the top andis adapted, when the top is folded, to be releasably securedstationarily to the vehicle body, and clamping Specificationof Letterseaten.

Patented Dec. 18, 1917.

Application filed December 29, 1916. Serial No. 139,456.

orfastening means which.-;;are;. also carried by and movewith oneof thebows and co-= operate with; the prop when the top is folded, for;clamping or fastening the bows in place' Preferably the-parts arepivotallymounted on the bow or bows by which they are ,carried, so thatvwhen the prop is detached 7 from Q the body the parts can beplacedlengthwise of the bower bows and there secured-torender the deviceless conspicuous.

In theaccompanying drawings, bowsup portsand fasteners of differentconstructions embodying the invention are 1111157 trated.

. Figure l is a side elevation, on a reduced scale, of a bow support andfastener emof a folded vehicle top, the top covering bebodying theinvention applied to the bows ing omitted for the sake of. clearness.

Fig. 2 is a transversesectional elevatioin,

on an enlarged scale,.showing the device illustrated in Fig. 1. Y

Fig. 3 is a side elevation,- enlarged, of the fastening means of thesupport and fastener detached from the bow.

Fig. 4 is a plan view of the device for re-- leasably attaching the propor supportingmember to the vehicle body.

Fig.5 is a fragmentary plan view showing the prop fastenedin positionlengthwiseof the rear bow. f

Fig. 6 is a transverse sectional elevation, similar to Fi .2, showing amodified construction of t ebow' support andfastener.

Fig. 7 is aplan view showing the support and fastener illustratedin.Fig. 6 disconnected from the body and-secured to the rear.

bow lengthwise thereof.

Fig.7.

Fig. 8 is a sectional elevation on line 88,

Fig. 9 is a transverse sectional elevation,

showing anotherrmodification of the prop and stationary support of thedevice.

Fig. 10 is an elevation of modified means for releasably attaching theprop to the ve hicle body. v a

A, Fig. 1 represents the rear or'lowe'r bow of a vehicle body, and B.the front or upper bow. The folding bow construction illustrated in Fig.1 is selected simply to show the application of the bow support andfastener thereto, it being understood that the device is applicable toother top constructions for bow A, when the top is folded, for clampingY the bows. The prop 11 can be pivotally mounted on the bow A inanysuitable way. As shown, it is pivoted at the inner side of the bow ona stud 13 on a sleeve or clip 14: secured on the how. The clip isprovided at the outer side of the bow with a hooked projection or stud15 for the engagement of the clamping member of the device. The prop 1.1is adapted, when the top is folded, to be releasablyattached to andstationarily supported by an arm or support 16 which is secured to andprojects a short distance only from the body of the vehicle. Thissupport and the cooperating part of the prop 11 may be of any suitableconstruction adapting the prop to be quickly and easily secured to andreleased from the support. As shown, the support 16 is provided with anupright swivel post 17 having a crank handle 18 and the laterallyprojecting upper end of the prop 11 has a slotted opening 19, see Fig.l, adapted to receive the swivel post and its handle 18. When the postis turned to the position shown in Fig. 2, the prop can be'slidvertically onto and olf of the post, the handle 18 being then adapted topass through the slot in the prop. The prop is secured by turning thepost to a position, such as shown in Fig. 4, in which the handle of thepost overhangs the upper end of the prop at one side of the slot 19therein, thereby preventing the disengagement of the prop from thesupport or arm 16. 1- yielding washer 20 encircling the post 17 iscompressed slightly when securing the prop and serves to hold the partsfirmly and prevent rattling. Any other suitable means could be employedfor releasably securing the prop 11 to the vehicle body.

For instance, the upper end of the prop can be secured by a cotter pinor the like 21 on a fixed stud or post projecting from the support orarm 16 as shown in Fig. 6, or a cam lever and link fastening 22 could beemployed for releasably securing the upper end of the prop on the arm orsupport 16*, as shownin Fig. 10.

The fastening or clamping means of the combined support and fastener inthe construction shown in Figs. 1 to 5 is suitably pivoted on the frontbow B and comprises an eye or loop 23 adapted to engage the hook 15 onthe rear how, a clamping lever 24 pivo-ted to the loop and to a yoke 25,and a screw 26 having a threaded portion screwed into a threaded hole inthe yoke 25 and an oppositely threaded portion screwed into a swivelpost 27 which is swiveled in a socket 28 on a sleeve or clip 29 rigidlysecured on the front bow. The socket can be secured on the bow and thepost swiveled therein in any suitable way. By engaging the loop or eye23 with the hooked stud 15 and forcing the lever 2% inwardly, the frontand rear bows are drawn together, thus clamping the bows together andholding them firmly. I The ables theclamping means to be lengthened orshortened as may be necessary to insure the proper clamping action. Whenthe top is to be raised or extended the loop-or eye 23 is disengagedfrom the hook or studl5 on the rear bow and the clamping member can thenbe swung around on its pivotal connection with the front bow to aposition lengthwise of the bow and there secured by engaging the loop oreye with-a stud or projection 30 on the front bow, see Fig. 1, andoperating the lever as when securing the clamp to the stud 15 on therear how. The prop 11 can then be released from thearm or support 16 onthe bod so as to be carried up with the bow A wlien the top is raised orextended- When the prop is disconnected from the arm or support 16 it ispreferably swung to a position lengthwise of the rear bow and theresecured, the rear bow being provided with means of any suitableconstruction for securing the prop in this position. For instance, thefree end of the prop can be engaged with a lug 31, Fig. 5, fixed on thebow and having a seat in its outer end into which the prop is adapted tobe snapped.

In the construction shown in Figs. 6, 7 and 8, the proper supportingmember 11 is pivotally mounted on the rear bow as above described and isadapted to be releasably attached to a stationary arm or support 16 onthe vehicle body as before described, or

in any other suitable manner. In this construction the clamp orfastening part of the device, instead of being mounted on the front bow,as before described, consists of a screw which is carried by the prop 11and is adapted to be-releasably-engaged with the front bow B. This screwhas right and left-hand threaded portions, one of which screws into athreaded hole in the free end of the prop 11 and the other of whichworks in a threaded hole in a block 32 which is provided with a stud 33adapted to enter a socket 34: secured on the front bow B. When the studis moved into the socket and the screw turned to move the block 32toward the prop 11 the stud will be retained in the socketand the bowsdrawn together so as to securely clamp or hold 8 them in place. Byproviding the screwwith right and left-hand threaded portions asdescribed, its action in clamping and re leasing the parts is muchquicker. The stud 5 33 an dsocket 34 can be of any suitable con-.struction adapted to permit the stud to be readily inserted into andremoved from the socket and retained in place therein by the clampingaction of. the screw, and the socket can be secured on the bow in anysuitable way, or the block 32 could be releasably engaged :with thefront bow in any other suitable manner. As shown, the stud is adapted Vto move sidewise into the socket through an opening in theside of thelatter. l/Vhen the stud 33 is released from the socket on the front how,the prop 11 can be detached from the arm or support 16 to permit theraisingofithe top. Theprop 11 with the 20 clampingmeans carried therebycan then be swung around to a-position lengthwise of the rear bow A'andsecured in this position by inserting the stud 33 in a socket 35 on therear how similar to the socketZA on the front how. The stud is securedin this socket by operating the screw in the same manner that the studis secured in the socket on the front bow. In this construction thefastening .and supporting device, comprising both the prop 11 and theclamping screw or means, is carried by'the rear bow, but the deviceincluding the prop and the clamping means is carried by and moves withthe top when the top is raised, as in' the first construction described,and only the short arm or support 16 is left projecting 'from'the sideof the vehicle when the top is raised. Also, as in the firstconstruction, the fastening device, when the top is raised, 1s 40'retained in a position lengthwise of one of the bows, being thuspractically hidden from view.

Fig. 9 shows a construction in which the bow-supporting prop 11 issecured rigidly to the rear bow, instead of pivotally. This prop isadapted for use with fastening means 12, such as shown in Figs. 1 to 3,and a hook 15" is provided for the engagement of the fastener loop. Theprop and hook are shown as being made in one integral piece. As thisprop can not be swung from the position in which it projects laterallyfrom the bow, it is preferably made shorter than in the otherconstructions and cooperates with a stationary arm or support 12 locatedlower down 011 the vehicle body. This rigid prop can be of differentforms, as indicated for instance by the full and dotted lines in Fig. 9.It can be releasably attached to the arm 12 as shown in Fig. 9, or bysecuring devices such as before described, or by any other suitablemeans.

37 and 38, Figs. 1 and 6, indicate interfitting studs and sockets orother suitable cooperating parts on the bows, such as commonly-employedfor holding the bows inv place one vertically 'over the other. These canbe used or not as desired.

I claim as my invention:

'1. In combination with the bows of a folding vehicle top, a bow supportand fastener comprising a bow-supporting prop and cooperatingbow-fastening means both carried by and movable with the topand movablerelatively to each other for fastening the bows when the top is folded,said prop extending from the .bows toward the vehicle body forattachment thereto, and means for releasably securing said prop to V thevehicle body for supporting the folded top, said prop when detached fromthe vehicle body being retained on the top.

2. In combination with a vehicle body and the bows of a folding vehicletop, a bow support and fastener.comprising a bowit supporting propmounted on one of the bows and bow-fastening means which 00- operatewith another bow and with said prop for fastening the bows when the topis folded, said prop extending fromthe bows toward the vehicle body forattachment thereto, both saidprop and fastening means being mounted onthe top and retained thereon when the top is raised, and means forreleasably attaching said prop to the vehicle body or supporting thebows when the top is folded.

3; In combination with the bows of a folding vehicle top, abow supportand fastener comprising a bow-supporting prop and coiiperatingbowfastening means which are movable relative to the prop for fastening thebows when the top is folded,means' which connect said prop and fasteningmeans with the bows for holding the bows in folded position and whichretain both the prop and the fastening means on the bows when the top israised, said prop extending from the bows toward the vehicle body forattachment thereto, and means for releasably securing said pro-p to thevehicle body for supporting the folded top.

4. In combination with the; bows of a folding top, a bow support and.fastener comprising a bow-supporting prop which is pivotally mounted onone of said bows to swing to and from a position lengthwise thereof andis retained on said bow, means for releasably holding the prop in saidposition, a stationary support, means for releasably securing the propto said stationary support for supporting the top when folded, andfastening means carried by and retained on one of the bows andcooperating with another bow for fastening the bows when 1 the top isfolded.

5. In combination with the bows of a folding top, a bow support andfastener comprising a bow-supporting prop which is pivotally mounted onone of said bows to thereof, means for releasably holding the prop insaid position, a stationary support, and means for releasably attachingthe prop to said support for supporting the top when folded.

7. In combination with y the bows of a folding top, a bow support andfastener comprising a bow-supporting prop which is pivotally attached toone of said bows at the inner side thereof to swing to and from aposition lengthwise thereof, means for releasably holding the prop insaid position, a stationary support, and means for releasably attachingthe prop to said support for supporting the top when folded.

S. In combination with the bows of a folding vehicle top, and astationary support for the bows when folded which 8X-- tends outwardlyfrom the vehicle to a point inside of said bows, a prop which ispermanently secured to the rear bow of the top and remains attached tothe bow when the top is raised, and which has a part extending towardthe vehicle from said bow and adapted to be secured to said. supporttohold said bow stationary when the top is folded.

9. In combination with the bows of a folding vehicle top, a bow supportand fastener comprising a bow-supporting prop which is permanentlyattached to one of the bows and moves with said bow when folding andraising the top and islocated between the bow and the vehicle when thetop is folded, means for releasably fastening said prop to the vehiclefor supporting the bows when the top is folded, and fastening meanscarried by and retained on one ofthe. bows for securing the bowstogether when the top is folded.

10.. In combination with the bows of a folding vehicle top, a bowsupport and fastener comprising abow-supporting .prOp

and cooperating bow fastening means both ber, 1916.

PETER BROADBOOKS. Witnesses EVERETT A. JUDD,

JOHN H. W001).

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressingthe Commissioner of latents,

Washington, D. C.

